Spurs vs Brentford | Ange’s preview: “You can see what having Toney back does for them”

It’s less than six months since the Ange Postecoglou era kicked-off at Brentford. So much has happened since that 2-2 draw in August, it seems a lifetime ago.

That will be reflected on the pitch when the teams meet again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening (31 January, 7.30pm UK). Back in the summer, there was no Ivan Toney for Brentford, but the twin threat of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in full effect - both scored. Now both are unavailable - Mbeumo injured, Wissa at AFCON - but talisman Toney is back with a bang after an eight-months suspension. Rico Henry, another key to Brentford’s attacking prowess from wide areas, is also injured.

From our side that day, starters Yves Bissouma and Heung-Min Son are also away on international duty. Thankfully, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven have just returned from long-term injury. Rodrigo Bentancur, recovering from a knee injury at the time, is also back, but look on the bench that day and Pape Sarr won’t be back in time from AFCON, Manor Solomon is injured and both Davinson Sanchez and Ivan Perisic - who both came off the bench - have since departed.

Brentford were unbeaten in their first four games, but now sit 15^th having slipped to 17^th after a run of six losses in seven, halted by a Toney-inspired win against Forest on his goalscoring return on 20 January. We won a Club-best eight out of our first 10 games in the Premier League era, but then suffered injuries and suspensions from the start of November. We’ve still picked up results and sit fifth.

It was put to Ange that the opener must seem like an age ago to him. “It’s the nature of football,” he told us. “Things move on pretty quickly, and you don’t have time to sit and reflect. We’ve made progress since then, still a long way to go, but the important thing for me is that we have made progress and we have to continue that. We’ve just got to make sure we finish the season strongly. If we can have a stronger back half of the year than we did the first half, we’ll be in a good place.”

Speaking about Brentford, the talk was inevitably on Toney. “They’ve not been on a great run, but you can see what having Ivan Toney back does for them, in the last game, not just from a football perspective but generally in terms of presence on the field, he helps them enormously,” said Ange.

“There aren’t many players like him in the league, to be honest. As I said, it’s not like he’s coming back from an injury, he’s been training, and he gives them a real focal point. I guess he has a point to prove, as well, for himself and his club. It will be a good challenge for our boys.

“It’s another tough game, and we won’t have any easy ones between now and the end of the season. For us, what’s important is that we’re at home, we’re disappointed with the last game, so there’s only one way to address that, and that’s to make sure we play our football and get a result.”